It's all about the music, dude! Sit down, relax and listen to some tunes.
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Joel Dorn
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Posted on December 19, 2007 at 09:08:23 | ||
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Joined: November 5, 2001 |
Producer helped shape Atlantic Records' sound By Jon Thurber, December 19, 2007 Joel Dorn, a producer who won two consecutive Grammys for record of the year at Atlantic Records while helping to shape that label's distinctive jazz sound, died Monday after suffering a heart attack in New York. He was 65. "Joel bridged the worlds of jazz and pop with enormous skill and grace, never compromising the integrity of his artists and their music," Edgar Bronfman Jr., chairman and chief executive of the Warner Music Group, which includes Atlantic Records, said in a statement. "A great character, he loved and understood the music, and he had a rare gift of identifying genuine talent and drawing out their best work." Dorn worked for Atlantic from 1967 to 1974, when the label had some of the hottest producers in the business, including label co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin, as well as Nesuhi Ertegun, Ahmet's brother and head of the jazz division. Dorn's use of pop production techniques brought new attention to jazz artists, including drummer Max Roach, flutist Herbie Mann, pianist Les McCann, saxophonist Eddie Harris, vibraphonist Gary Burton and saxophonists Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Yusef Lateef. In the pop field, he produced singer Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," which was named record of the year for 1972. Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song," also produced by Dorn, took the same honor the next year. He was also the primary producer on Bette Midler's debut album on Atlantic, "The Divine Miss M." Among the other leading pop artists he worked with were the Neville Brothers, Don McLean, Lou Rawls and Donny Hathaway. |